


Answer/Response

by Phosphorite



Category: Free!
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Epistolary, Fic Exchange, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-12-17
Updated: 2013-12-17
Packaged: 2018-01-05 00:17:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,186
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1087338
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Phosphorite/pseuds/Phosphorite
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>They write; he never responds.</p>
<p>(But there are more ways than one to find your answers.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Answer/Response

**Author's Note:**

  * For [defenestrator](https://archiveofourown.org/users/defenestrator/gifts).



> Written for defenestrator as part of the First Annual Iwatobi Christmas Fest! I hope I did not stray too far off the intended idea and managed to come up with something worth receiving – writing this was both a challenge and a lot of fun because of the word limit and all the subtleties at play. So thank you for the opportunity, and I genuinely hope you enjoy! ♥

 

_it was never about that, though; it was about the letters, and the fact that if someone was reading them, it meant someone had sent them, and that they would have been_ received _; and that, well, it meant..._

 

* * *

 

April 27th, he receives two letters.

One is written in Makoto's casual handwriting, one in Haruka's reserved font.

Makoto's letter is long and elaborate, the sentences blurring together like a burrowing grapevine.

_Has your school started yet? We looked Australia up in an encyclopedia. I borrowed it from the school library. I think Haru spent two hours staring at the pictures, but he said nothing. How is the weather over there? Do you think you'll get to see dolphins? I hope you visit soon. Your friend, Makoto._

Meanwhile, the second one has but a single line.

**_Is there an ocean near where you live?_ **

Both letters smell like saltwater, like seaweed, like home.

He answers neither one.

 

 

May 18th. There's one letter, the envelope sealed with a sticker of a smiling Anpanman.

_It probably takes a while for mail to reach Australia, right? We went to the beach today, but it was still too cold to swim. I found a small stone shaped like a shark fang and thought of you. Your friend, Makoto._

He doesn't answer the letter, but he holds onto the stone enclosed in the envelope until someone accidentally throws it out with the trash.

 

 

June 23rd, the letter in the mail is thin and short. Each character is written with precision, as though the sender has spent a long time planning out the exact words they wish to say.

**_Are there cherry trees in Australia?_ **

**_P.S. Makoto misses you._ **

He gets as far as to draw a line on the blank sheet of paper until his pen stills.

 

 

July 7th.

_I meant to write sooner, but I fell ill. I hope you're well. It's very hot in Japan right now. Is it Winter in Australia? We're going to join a new swimming club! I bet that will cheer Haru ~~-chan~~ up. You're free to visit whenever you want! There's not a whole lot of space, but you could stay at our house. Your friend, Makoto._

It takes him weeks to open the letters that arrive after this one.

He answers none of them, of course.

 

 

August 25th.

_I wonder if I got your address wrong?_

 

 

December 26th. He receives one letter, decorated with pictures of tiny snowflakes and holly.

_Merry Christmas Rin! That's what they say in Australia too, right? I walked to your house yesterday to make sure I have the right address. I didn't know you had an e-mail. Gou-chan gave it to me. I hope you are well. We're all looking forward to seeing you, especially Haru. (He won't say it, but I saw him buying an encyclopedia.) Your friend, Makoto._

He's not home to read it, though.

(He's too busy shattering the remnants of a past he's trying his best not to remember; too busy leaving behind the life he desperately wishes he could have again.)

He never answers that letter, either.

 

 

January 12th. There's a sound in his inbox like a wind chime.

_I decided to give this e-mail thing a go. I heard phones in Australia don't have e-mail so I went to the library to write one on the computer. How was your New Year? I tried to get Haru to visit the shrine with me but he wouldn't come out of his house for days. ~~It gets kind of lonely sometimes~~ ~~I wonder how you are a lot~~ I hope you're well. Your friend, Makoto._

He cannot bring himself to press delete, but he cannot bring himself to answer either.

He doesn't know why.

 

 

March 15th. There aren't any more letters or e-mails.

He stares at his inbox and he still doesn't know why.

 

 

 

April May June July August September October November December January February March April May June July August September October November December January February March

Nothing.

(Momentarily, he wonders if this is how Makoto felt all along.)

 

 

On the Spring of his 14th year he receives an e-mail.

He recognizes it the second the stilted English title hits the screen, awkward and clumsy in delivery, but it makes something in his chest shift.

_How ya goin' Rin! ...That sounded kind of dorky, doesn't it? It's supposed to be Australian slang (^_^);; I'm not sure if you still use this e-mail but I wanted to write anyway. It's not long 'till we start high school and graduating made me think of you. You remember, right? Unless you forgot all about me and Haru, heh. I hope you didn't, even if you never replied to my letters._

_It's okay though. I'm sure you've had your reasons. I didn't stop writing because I was angry, but I didn't want to be a bother. I asked Haru if he wanted to say something to you, but he ignored me. Last time I tried, he wouldn't talk to me for a day._

_I think he still misses you, though. I do too. Ah, I probably shouldn't say such embarrassing things..._

_Anyway, take care. Or have a good one? Haha, sorry!_

_Your friend always, Makoto._

He beats a personal record that night, for the first time in almost two years.

It's a not a swimming record, though.

(Because he hasn't cried in six months, but he does cry then.)

 

 

On the Spring of his 18th year he receives:

one handwritten letter in casual handwriting

a set of notes scribbled down in short, staccato lines in reserved font

a collection of small stones, each shaped like a shark tooth

wilted petals of cherry blossoms tucked beneath the pages of an encyclopedia.

 

He reads the notes first; they are sprinkled with time stamps from years long gone, unfinished and unsent, spiraling into one another like stilted poetry;

**_I tried to open the window wide_ **

**_it's been raining for days_ **

**_if there's a rainbow in the sky_ **

**_does it extend to where he is?_ **

 

He reads the letter second; the date reads _the day after tomorrow_ and there are light creases on the envelope, as though sealed away with care. On the letter he only finds two lines, a stark contrast with the long-winded letters of the past.

_In the years I spent waiting for your answer, I found mine._

_Love always, Makoto_

 

(He's cried a lot since his return but he doesn't cry then; because Haruka's skin tastes like saltwater while Makoto's lips taste like seaweed, and when their heartbeats synchronize in the slow hours of the night it makes Rin feel like home.)

 

 

April 27th.

He writes two letters.

Both are blank.

Both he delivers personally, by hand.

And from the look of silent warmth in Makoto's eyes, the subdued intensity on Haruka's face, he knows that they know that there's nothing at all to say;

nothing he can apologize for, nothing he can make up for, because the only real response the two of them were ever waiting for was the day Rin came back to stay.

 

 

\- fin

**Author's Note:**

> I went for the artsy route this time due to the word limit, but was also inspired to write a... well, companion fic of sorts – so look forward to the eventual M/E rated sequel for this, if you're at all so inclined. NO SHAME.


End file.
